"I've given you the chance."
"If you lose later, don't make excuses."
"Rosen."
Seeing Rosen reject his kindness, Smoker's face darkened.
When he said Rosen lost, he didn't mean he could defeat the opponent, but rather that he could successfully challenge Rosen.
Obviously, after witnessing the fight between Rosen and Redfield through live video, he understood his own strengths and weaknesses. No matter how much energy Rosen had consumed, Smoker didn't think he could truly beat the man in front of him.
"Is it really okay?"
Gion glanced at Smoker, then lowered her voice and whispered in Rosen's ear.
She remembered what Rosen had just said about rushing to the cafeteria to eat. As a monster with the ability level of an Admiral, coupled with her understanding of Rosen, she felt that the reason he wanted to head to the cafeteria as soon as he returned to the Naval Academy was to replenish what he had spent in the battle with Redfield.
"It's okay."
"Gion."
"Like Smoker just said, he won't take up too much of my time."
Rosen smiled, then looked at Smoker.
"Come on!"
He signaled to Smoker that he could start.
"As you wish."
Seeing this, Smoker didn't hesitate and immediately raised his hand, clenching his fist.
"White Fist!"
He punched forward, his arm transforming into white smoke—like a ferocious, violent white python bursting from the grass, opening its mouth to bite the prey in front of it.
Facing Smoker's attack, Rosen neither dodged, defended, nor counterattacked. He simply stood there with one hand in his pocket.
It wasn't until the fist, flying toward him like a cannonball with a white smoke tail, was about one meter from his face that his eyes turned red—then black and red lightning burst from his right hand inside his trouser pocket.
Boom!
Crackle!
Dozens of Haki black lightning bolts, like flying black dragons, shot from Rosen's right hand and streaked toward Smoker.
Three of the black-and-red bolts struck Smoker's White Fist first.
"Ah!"
As soon as Smoker came into contact with the lightning of the Conqueror's Haki, he screamed, his body trembling violently as if struck by a real thunderbolt.
The White Fist, which was only a short distance from Rosen, froze mid-air. The smoke trailing behind it began to retract, as though someone were pulling it back from the other end.
Immediately after, the black lightning Rosen released streaked across the air like meteors, instantly surrounding Smoker and piercing into the space around his body.
"Ah!"
"I can't move!"
"How could this happen?"
The black lightning pierced into him, and Smoker felt as if he'd been hit by a true sky-borne thunderstrike. His Logia transformation was useless; he could only scream again.
His body shook uncontrollably, unable to even maintain his elemental state. His hands were raised high into the air, as if beyond his control—like he was surrendering.
"Is this… Conqueror's Haki?"
"Why?"
"Isn't it said that Conqueror's Haki can only stun opponents?"
Smoker strained against the oppressive, heart-piercing power of the black lightning, disbelief filling his voice and expression.
He had been in Zephyr's class for months, and naturally knew about Conqueror's Haki—but his understanding was shallow.
First, no one in Zephyr's class possessed the qualifications of a king.
Second, too much talk about it could cause fear.
Third, in the entire ocean, there were only a handful of kings who possessed Haki on Rosen's level.
"How is that possible?"
"It really feels like I'm being struck by real lightning—like I'm taking direct physical damage."
"And… I can't use my Smoke-Smoke Fruit ability!"
The more Smoker thought, the more horrified he became. He could endure the pain from the Haki, but the Smoke Fruit was his greatest trump card.
With this Logia-type Devil Fruit, after Rosen, Gion, and Kake had left Zephyr's class, he had become the number one in class—the strongest student remaining.
It was because of this fruit that Smoker felt there was no need to spend effort training physical skills or Haki, and even less need to stay in the Academy. The Smoke Fruit alone could crush pirates. This was why he had applied to Zephyr for early graduation.
But now?
Rosen hadn't even moved. Just by releasing his Conqueror's Haki, he had suppressed Smoker into complete submission, freezing him in place.
The Smoke Fruit he took so much pride in had been stunned into uselessness by the black lightning of Rosen's willpower—like it had fallen into the sea, dead and unresponsive.
"Graduate early?"
"Are you worthy?"
"Smoker."
At that moment, Smoker couldn't help but recall what Zephyr had told him not long ago. He laughed at himself.
It turned out Zephyr had already been generous. It wasn't that he couldn't beat Rosen—he couldn't even make Rosen attack.
Just a release of Haki, and he was crushed to the point where even using his fruit's power was impossible.
"Smoker."
"How come?"
"Can't even use the Smoke Fruit?"
Hina, standing nearby, was shocked when she saw Smoker forced to retract his White Fist, unable to even use his Devil Fruit.
In that moment, she understood why Conqueror's Haki was called the "qualification of a king," and why only one in a million could possess it. She also understood why Zephyr had said that those with Conqueror's Haki could defeat enemies with aura alone—without ever taking action.
It turned out that when Zephyr had spoken of kings in the sea who could do this, he wasn't referring to them at all—he was referring to Rosen.
"Without even lifting a hand, Smoker's been reduced to this miserable state!"
Gion, too, was stunned.
She had expected Smoker to lose—perhaps not even surviving one move. But she hadn't expected that before Rosen made any move, Smoker would lose the ability to fight, his Devil Fruit sealed away.
"Is this really something Conqueror's Haki can do?"
Kake stared deeply at Rosen. Unlike Smoker, he possessed the strength of an Admiral candidate. When Zephyr had explained Conqueror's Haki to him, it had been in detail.
According to Zephyr, before Rosen, no one in Marine Headquarters with Conqueror's Haki could make a Devil Fruit user surrender without fighting—and even prevent them from using their powers.
"Could it be…?"
"Has Rosen's Conqueror's Haki surpassed even Vice Admiral Garp and Fleet Admiral Sengoku?"
The same thought arose in both Gion's and Kake's minds.
"To destroy the enemy with nothing but coercion…"
"Junior."
"Has your Conqueror's Haki already reached the next realm?"
It wasn't only Gion, Kake, and the other students who were shocked.
At that moment, Borsalino reached out and pushed his sunglasses higher on his nose—seemingly to hide the horror in his eyes.
...
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